Bronte Creek Harvest Festival Returns September 26 And 27 In Oakville

A field of more than 300 pumpkins is sitting at Spruce Lane Farm right now, and this weekend you can walk into the field and carry one home. The Bronte Creek Harvest Festival runs Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27, from 10 a.m. both days at the historic farm inside Bronte Creek Provincial Park.

The Friends of Bronte Creek Park run the festival every year, and it is built around what harvest looked like on this farm a hundred years ago. Staff work in historical attire and give hands-on demonstrations from the early settlement era. The turn-of-the-century farmhouse is open for tours, there are wagon rides, and a four-foot cross-cut saw is set up so you can cut your own souvenir.

The cider press is in full operation, and you have to help press the apples before you can try any of the cider. Apples and cider were Spruce Lane Farm's main crop. In the 1900s farms competed for the best harvest workers by offering the best food and drink, so a farm with good cider tended to get better hands at harvest time.

Pumpkins are yours to pick by donation, and food and seasonal refreshments cost extra. Wear boots for the pumpkin field!